Unbelievable Airfare to Visit Eastern Europe: $143 Roundtrip New York JFK – Belgrade!

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Back in June Air Serbia launches its new New York JFK – Belgrade non-stop with an Airbus A330 they’ve named for Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla.

The new flight is 4511 miles and 8 hours 50 minutes.

Service is 5 times weekly, with flight schedules varying by day of week.

The flight is a great way to connect to Eastern Europe and this morning I wrote about $215 roundtrip to several cities (!!).

It turns out it’s also a great opportunity to visit Serbia, which is still off the beaten path for many in the US, because you can book the non-stop roundtrips right now for $143!

Most sites are selling the flights for $149 roundtrip.

However airfare metasearch site Momondo will help you find even better pricing than that.

Outbound travel is permitted August 21 through April 1, and a Saturday night stay is required. Fare rules say this must be ticketed by Thursday, but is likely not to last that long.

You’ll find the fare available most days that Air Serbia operates (remember, the flight is 5 days a week rather than daily).

This is a T fare which earns 25% of flown miles when credited to Etihad Guest, so you’ll earn a little over 2000 miles for the roundtrip.

Things to Do in Serbia

I have never been to Serbia but when the new flight launched Air Serbia shared some suggestions:

  • Ada Ciganlija: Known colloquially as “Belgrade’s Sea” the white pebbled beach is actually a lake made by the Sava River, enjoyed by thousands in the summer who swim and flock to the many surrounding cafes.

  • Belgrade Fortress: One of the world’s oldest strongholds, its location between the Sava and Danube made it a cultural dispute for ages. While invaded more than 100 times, it is currently the largest free attraction of the city.

  • Grab a Rajika: As one of the largest plum exporters in the world, Belgrade is known for its national drink, a fruit brandy known as the Rakija. Take in the thriving nightlife the city is famous for with a sip (or glass).

  • Saint Petka’s Chapel: Situated outside the Kalemegdan fortress, this is one of the smallest and most beautiful churches in the city, originally built in 1867. Several legends surround this chapel, many claiming the spring that runs beneath it contains healing powers.

  • Knez Mihailova: Nestled between Terazije Square and Kalemegdan, this promenade is the central meeting point and epicenter of the city for most Belgradians. It is considered one of the most beautiful and historic pedestrian streets in all of Eastern Europe.

Since we don’t know for certain how Air Serbia will feel about such a deep discount airfare sale, whether they might get seller’s remorse, I’d wait a few days after buying tickets before making additional non-refundable travel plans around the fare.

In theory an airline refusing to honor a sale like this would have to reimburse any out of pocket costs you incurred but there’s not much history with enforcement of that particular DOT statement so I’d still not test it.

(HT: AirfareSpot)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I’m seeing $299 r/t in April, so I guess the $143 bucket is gone for that month. Economy Comfort is showing $1100, Biz $1500.

  2. You would think LAX-TYO for $374 would be “unbelievable”. Miles are really not worth anything these days.

  3. Gary – Where and how do you find those JFK-BEL fares? I’ve search Momondo, Kayak, Air Serbia sites and nothing eve3n approaching under $500.

  4. It disappeared right before my eyes. Had it on Goog flights, clicked through to Serbia Air and it was gone. Then expedia – gone. Then Goog flights refreshed and it was gone. I must have missed it by minutes…

  5. Gary,
    I booked three tickets on Expedia for $147.00 each. Air Serbia ticketed and confirmed. Thank you for a nice Sunday surprise! A heck of a deal.

  6. Garry,

    If you just knew how much heated discussion (in certain places) a simple quote like “Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla” could cause.

    No surprise this deal disappeared.

    Please check WIKI and you will be still amazed.

    ….although his biggest enemy was T.A. Edison (read about poor elephant in Paris).

  7. Ha! The pop up on Expedia has 158 people have booked a flight today to BEG and 135 are currently looking.

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